Friends of Fate
by Cj-TDT
Summary: Link has a dark side, so shouldn't everything else? Then that must mean that the Triforce has a dark side, and a holder of it, Link has to stop it, even if he kills his own friend in the process.
1. Chapter 1: A Hero's Worry

**Here's my first try at a story, I hope you guys like it, if you have any helpful criticism, don't hesitate to tell me, I want to know how bad or good I did. Also, none of the characters except for Cody belong to me, they all belong to Nintendo, but I can still dream…**

Chapter 1: A Hero's Worry

"I refuse to let you win!" A blonde haired, blue eyed Hylian boy yelled as he charged, sword drawn, at a black haired, yellow eyed Hylian appearing boy, whom was holding a pair of large daggers in each hand, his arms folded across his chest.

"Just give it up, you lost at the start, Link," The black haired boy said as he spun out of the way, as though he were dancing, twirling around and landing a heel on the back of Link's head, sending him tumbling forward. Was this how the Hero of Time was going to lose? To a 16 year old who had taught himself how to fight, was this how it was over?

"Now, get up, Malon was yelling at us for dinner a few minutes ago," Link's friend, Cody, said as he put his daggers in their sheathes on the back of his belt.

In a way it was, this was what Link and Cody usually did before they had dinner; they sparred for around an hour. Link had to get used to the feel of a normal sword, since he no longer had the master sword. So far the score between them was, Cody: 6 Link: 10.

Cody held a hand out to his friend, who got up and sheathed his own sword. He shook his head as he brushed the dirt off of his tunic.

"I can't believe you beat me," Link said, a little dismayed. _'The Triforce of Darkness is getting stronger, I can feel it.'_

"Yeah, you had to let me win again, sometime," Cody said, putting his hands behind his head as he and Link walked towards the ranch house where Malon had so graciously allowed them to stay.

Cody stayed in the barn on a bed of hay, he loved animals, and Link stayed in the house with Talon, Malon, and Ingo. Cody had the choice of rooming with Ingo, but he had kindly said, "I'd rather be hugged by a goron."

* * *

Cody walked into the house with Link, the only difference is Cody swiped a bottle of milk off of the counter when nobody was looking, being the thief he was. Malon had laid out their dinner for all of them; she and Talon were already sitting at the table. Cody immediately sat down and challenged Talon to see who could get done first, of course Talon accepted. Link sat quietly, eating occasionally but mainly looking at his food, "Aw, come on, Link, I didn't beat you that bad," Cody said, through a mouthful of food.

"That's not what been bothering me, it's the Triforce of Courage," Link said. The room immediately went quiet, except for Cody, but he did eat normally now so he could talk.

"I know whatcha mean, the Triforce of Darkness has been botherin' me, too," Cody said, he raised his right hand and in the middle of the Triforce insignia where it was always meant to be empty space was a black upside down triangle that showed up on the back of his leather gauntlets, much like Link's Triforce of Courage.

Cody was under watch by the palace, ever since they found out that there was a dark side of the Triforce, as there usually is with all things that have to deal with Light, Link had been ordered to watch Cody and make sure he didn't become influenced by the spirit of Darkness trapped inside of the Triforce after Ganondorf touched it.

"So, why didn't you say anything?!" Link exclaimed at his friend.

"Didn't wanna bother ya, I thought you would just say I hadn't gotten used to it, yet," Cody replied.

"The Triforce isn't something you just get used to!"

"You got used to it."

"Yes, but you have the Dark Triforce!"

"So? Just means I have as much power in mine as you all have in all of yours combi-"

"Will you both be quiet and eat?" Malon cut in, she hated it when they started talking about the Triforce, because then Cody would brag about how since the Dark Triforce is half of the Triforce, it had just as much power as the Triforce pieces that Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf possessed.

Both sat there quietly and finished eating, both looking up at each other occasionally and laughing at how childish they still acted. Their excuse was that both had missed out on seven years of their life, though.


	2. Chapter 2: Pain of the Past

Chapter 2: Pain of the Past

"So, all I have to do is get that sword as soon as he pulls it out? Sounds simple enough," A nine-year-old Cody said as he stood in front of a strange man wearing black armor with fiery orange hair, unlike Malon's which he liked to look at. The man dropped a bag full of rupees into Cody's hands; he would be eating like a King with that.

Cody followed closely behind the ten-year-old Link; he watched as he opened the Door of Time by playing a strange song, "Note to self, remember that," Cody whispered to himself as he slowly followed after Link.

He watched Link climb up onto the pedestal and put his hands on the Master Sword,

'_Now!'_ Cody ran at Link, whom looked back right as Cody stepped into the blue light that came out of the ground. "What the-?" Cody said as everything started to fade away, then the pain started, the unbearable pain of feeling yourself being ripped apart piece by piece, and then put back together only to have it start again, it felt like weeks went by dealing with the pain…

* * *

Cody awoke with a start, he was covered in a cold sweat, and he kept having nightmares about when he had been put in the Sacred Realm with Link. Only, Link had been protected from the horrors of the Sacred Realm. Once his presence was known by Rauru, Cody was protected as well, but the pain he had felt haunted him always, the pain of feeling the Triforce of Darkness being driven into his hand, the pain of every painful memory he ever had being rushed at him at once and the evil beings he saw created by Ganondorf's dark touch… 

Malon walked into the door to the barn, Link close behind her, "Are you alright, Cody? We could hear you screaming from inside, it sounded like you were in pain," Malon asked, a concerned look on her face.

"You had that nightmare again, didn't you?" Link asked him. Cody had explained to Link the dream, and every time Link even thought about what it had to have been like for his friend in the Sacred Realm he felt a chill go down his spine.

"I'm alright, it's just a dream, I'm alright," Cody said.

He didn't look fine though, his face was pale and his normally carefree, jovial eyes showed a look of fear. Link saw this immediately and decided it was best for Cody not to sleep in the barn by himself anymore. "Come inside, you can sleep on my bed," Link offered.

* * *

Cody ended up sleeping on the floor, he didn't want to take Link's bed from him, while Malon sat next to his head, stroking his hair and singing softly, it always helped him to fall back asleep and have better dreams. Link sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his friend's sleeping form, "I feel sorry for him, those dreams are becoming more and more of a problem, which means it is getting closer to the time," Link said. 

"I don't see why he has to go through this, he already had to deal with the pain of losing both his parents, his brother, and his sister right before his eyes," Malon said, sadly.

Link shook his head, "He knows that it's coming, he knows what we'll have to do," he said, he looked at the Triforce of Courage on his hand. One day Link would have to fight Cody, but it wouldn't be him, he would be taken over by the spirit of the Triforce of Darkness. Link had been questioning Zelda and the Sages for a way for Link to stop it, without killing his friend.


	3. Chapter 3: Darkness Awakens

Chapter 3: Darkness's Awakening

Link looked out the window from his bed, "I am the first one to wake up, as usual." He got up and tripped over Cody, waking up Malon and Cody. "Ow! What was that for?" Cody said sleepily, he lifted his head up and looked around, "Oh, never mind, thought you were someone else."

Link picked himself up as Malon got out of bed, she hated the fact that the two of them always had to have something happen as soon as they woke up. Once Link had accidentally left the pitchfork lying under a bail of hay and Cody decided to sleep in it. Needless to say that when he rolled over onto it, he wasn't quiet.

Link and Cody left the room as Malon changed; Talon was sitting down at the table when they were walking down the stairs. He had gathered some eggs from the cucoos and had already prepared food for everyone. Link and Cody didn't barely touch their food, "What's wrong, boys? Had a rough night?" Talon asked jovially. He then realized who they had been sharing a room with, "An uneventful rough night?" he added, with questioning to both of them.

After they ate, Cody and Link helped Malon with her chores, both of them competing for Malon's attention the whole way. Both had feelings for her, but Link also had feelings for Princess Zelda and Saria, Cody had feelings only for Malon. Who returned his feelings; she would never admit it to anyone, though.

Cody and Link were tending to the horses when Link noticed that every time Cody used his right hand, he would start wincing. "What's wrong with your hand?" Link asked as he reached for Cody's hand. He looked at Cody's palm, in the palm of his gauntlet, it was very wet and it was a strange reddish color. "Are you bleeding?" Link asked, he took Cody's gauntlet off, there was black lettering etched into his hand, and it was slowly spreading up his arm.

"Cody, we have to get you out of here," Link said, grabbed Cody as he seemed to lose his balance, and was starting to sweat profusely, his eyes seemed out of focus. Link called Epona and threw Cody over Epona's back.

Cody lay there, talking silently, "What's wrong, Link? Where are we going?" he asked groggily. The lettering had covered his entire right arm and was working its way up his shoulder onto his neck.

Link didn't say anything, he climbed up onto Epona's saddle and turned her towards the gates, saying things to try and soothe Cody the whole way.

Malon looked at them worriedly as they rode past her and her father, "Cody…" she said as they rode past, "Link, please, help him!"

"What's wrong? Malon, hey, save me a bottle of milk at dinner," Cody said grinning weakly at her.

"Ok, I will," she said sadly, tears welling up in her eyes. She covered her face and pressed her face against her father's chest, he held her in a hug to try and comfort her. Talon looked at Cody, who just looked back at him and Malon, he looked sad, he hated to see Malon cry. The only other time had been when they had seen how Ingo treated Malon before Link helped to win the ranch back.


	4. Chapter 4: First Victim

Chapter 4: First victim

Link rode to the gates of Hyrule Castle Town, he watched as the gates descended, trying to will them with his mind to open faster He knew every second he was away from the temple of time the farther and farther Cody slipped away into the Darkness of the Triforce.

Cody moved slightly, Link didn't notice, but Cody was slowly edging himself off the horse. Cody finally slid off and landed on his feet and fell backwards onto the ground, a sharp gasp escaping his mouth and the wind was knocked out of him. He lay on the ground holding his right hand, looking around at his surroundings, a look a shock and pain in his eyes. "Cody! Please, hold on!" Link said as he grabbed his friends arm and tried to help him up.

Cody knocked his hand away, a blood red coloring was appearing in his right eye, "Run..." he whispered, he looked up at Link pleadingly. Link shook his head, "No, I have to help you, come on!" Link said, trying to pick Cody up, this time getting him up with relative ease. Link looked confused at his friend, and noticed two long black tentacles coming out of his back, helping him up, which raised him higher, the came back into his back and Cody hung limp in the air. A look of shock and horror came over his face for a second before he jerked his head back, holding his right hand over his right eye. "Run, Link! Run away!" Cody yelled quickly before he removed his hand and looked back down at his friend, this time with an evil look in his eye.

The running man came, as his name implied, running by. Cody looked at him, a sadistic grin on his face, "Time for the first one to die," he said, his voice was different, it was darker and rougher, almost as though he hadn't spoken in years. The tentacles shot out of his back and latched onto the ground, pulling him back down. As soon as his feet touched the ground Cody seemed to disappear and reappear next to the running man, holding him by the neck.

"Run, Run, as fast as you can, now you are dead, running man," Cody said in a sing song voice, he drew on of his daggers and swiped one of the blades quickly in front of the running man. Cody let go of him and watched as the head of the running man fell off, a look of horror forever frozen up his now dead face. The body crumpled and Cody looked at it, "I'm going to show those Goddesses a whole new kind of torment for sealing me in that accursed Triforce for seven years, now they can watch as all of their lovely little creations die," he said as the tentacles of his body quickly ran over the running man's body, they appeared to reach into him and pulled out a small red orb. They crushed the orb, "Now, his soul is gone forever," Cody said, looking as Link's horrified face.

Cody took a step towards Link, stepping on the running man's body, then run forward quick enough to send the running man's body skidding back a foot or two. He stopped right in front of Link, holding Link by the collar. He lifted Link into the air; that was still in the shock of seeing the innocent running man killed so hastily. Cody grinned at Link, bringing his dagger back; Link looked down at him, the same shocked expression still on his face. Just as Cody was about to strike the Triforce of Courage suddenly sent a sharp light at his chest, knocking him backwards. He hit the ground near the running man's body, "Accursed fragment," Cody said, looking up. Now that he had stopped moving so much, Link could see that his friend's appearance was different, his normally blue zora tunic was a deepened color of blue, almost black, there were strange black markings across his arms and neck, and his right cornea was red instead of white. Link looked at his friend, he knew that as long as his eyes weren't completely changed, Cody was still inside of there, somewhere.

"I can't destroy you now, but once I find a way to attack you when you least expect it, and when the sages can't help you with that annoying Triforce fragment, you'll be all mine, little hero," Cody said, a grin on his face as he started sinking into the shadow of the running man's body. He seemed to be traveling by using any kind of darkness available. Link felt uneasy looking at his own shadow, then he made the mistake of looking at the running man.

He had seen plenty of bodies before, but he couldn't stand to see a Hylian one so freshly killed, and being someone he knew. He did the only thing he could do, and once he was done retching at the Castle moat, he climbed up onto Epona, and set off for the Temple of Time, he had to talk to the sages, they could find someway to help his friend, even if Link wasn't so sure he could himself.


	5. Chapter 5: Let's Get This Party Started

"_So, the creature's finally awakened."_

"_Yes, he has already struck down one Hylian, the poor running man."_

"_We have to do something!"_

"_Calm yourself, Link, we are trying to find a way to destroy the creature, without sacrificing the young Half Zora's life."_

"_And while we sit here, he's probably out there killing more people, right now!"_

"_We know, we are deeply grieved by this information, but we know."_

"_Yea, you can't expect us to be able to come down and deal with him, too, we have to hold Ganon, still, and if both of them are in Hyrule at once, they could destroy everything!"_

"_I know, but I can't stand just sitting here, all of those people are counting on us."_

"_We know, Kid, we're trying as hard as we can, but it's hard to everything at once."_

"_Please, Link, just be patient for all of us, there's nothing we can do if you don't want to kill Cody."_

"_There has to be something I can do, now. I'm going to look for it, with your help or not!"_

"_Brother, be careful, we cannot afford to lose you, if you are killed by him, then he'll destroy all of Hyrule."_

Link fell back to the ground before the pedestal, he looked around the temple, "What am I going to do?" he said. He ran out of the temple, climbed onto Epona's back, and rode towards Hyrule Field, he had to find out what Cody was doing, and what could be done to stop him.

Cody stood weakly, holding his bleeding left arm, his right eye seemed to be crying blood, and he was very weakly holding onto his daggers anymore.

"You can't defeat me, you should just give in to the darkness."

"How many times are you going to offer that?" Cody said, looking up at a creature that appeared to be nothing but darkness, but it still resembled himself. "Right now the only thing you have going for you, is that you look good," Cody joked, he actually couldn't stand the sight of the creature. "One day soon, your body will resemble my true form, this is the last place where you hold any power, and once that power is gone, I will be in total control," the creature said, a dark tentacle whipping across Cody's face, leaving another scratch that slowly seeped blood down his cheek.

"You slap like a girl," Cody mocked, he actually had felt that hit pretty bad.

'_How am I feeling these things inside my own mind, there's no way he could have taken control of my body that fast.'_

The creature sent two tentacles to hold Cody's arms down while he walked up to Cody himself and looked into his eyes for a few seconds, "Those stupid yellow eyes, where do you get the fire in those that keeps you fighting me?" he asked. He punched Cody in the stomach, causing him to cough blood and drop his daggers. He continued to punch him in the face, by the time he was done, Cody was barely able to even stay on his knees. He sat on his knees holding his stomach for a few seconds before he picked up his daggers and stood again, holding his daggers weakly at the ready.

'_Link, you have to help me, soon, or he's going to win.'_

In Hyrule, Cody was standing over the bodies of the residents of a house in kakariko village, the orbs from their bodies this time being slowly pulled through the tentacles he summoned. He felt the darkness inside of him growing stronger. A grin spread across his face, at this rate, not even Link would be able to stop him soon. He left the house and walked out into the town, people looked at him with unease. People had seen him before, but not with how he looked now, his black hair had turned even darker, it seemed to absorb the light that shone on it and his eyes had faded so they were a dark golden color. Even his skin seemed to have gotten a very strong tan.

He looked at all of the people, all of them back away from him warily. A little boy ran past him, running after his dog. Cody looked down at the boy, he reached out and grabbed him by the neck and held him in the air in front of him, "Now the fun really begins," Cody said, slowly drawing one of his daggers from its sheathe.


	6. Chapter 6: A War Begins

Part 5: A War Beginning

A light arrow whizzed past Cody's head, causing him to drop the boy, who ran away crying immediately. He looked toward the gate of Kakariko Village, and standing with another light arrow knocked to his bow was Link. Cody scowled, "So, you wish to fight me after all, very well then, but you're going to have to get past them first," Cody said, pointing to the former residents of the house he had just exited.

They walked towards Link; their mindless eyes looking at him, there skin slowly turning pitch black and their gruesome wounds still bleeding. "What in Hyrule? But, those people are dead…" Link muttered as he fired an arrow into the man's head. The creature's head came off, but it continued walking towards him.

Cody laughed as thought Link had just told a hilarious joke, "Please, without their souls all they have are their hearts, and the darkness in those is so easy to manipulate, I can make this whole town into an army of puppets," he explained. He grinned evilly before turning back to the other residents of Kakariko Village, "That reminds me, those aren't going to keep him entertained for long…" he said, smirking as he drew his other dagger. He walked slowly towards the crowd of people, they immediately began to run. He ran towards them as Link fired another light arrow into another creature, trying to get to Cody before he hurt anymore people.

Cody walked back towards to Link, five more orbs being absorbed in a pair of tentacles that crept out of his back, five more dark creatures following behind him. "It has been fun, Hero, but I must depart, I feel an especially strong force of darkness that I may be able to 'persuade' to join me," Cody said, smirking. Before he could start to disappear, he dropped to his knees holding his head; the creatures also began converging upon him as to attack him.

His head jerked up, their usual mischievous light back in them, "Link! You have to hurry to the Water Temple, Dark Link has revived himself and now the creature wants to use him!" Cody yelled before the creatures fell onto him, one of them scratching him under his eye as he sank into the ground. Right before he was completely gone, his eyes changed back to their dark evil state and the creatures were flung off of him.

Link drew his sword and rushed at the creatures, anger in his eyes. He immediately went to work on the creature nearest him, its zombie-like eyes flashing for a second before Link's sword cleaved it in two. A creature swung at him, cutting him at his right shoulder. He rolled to its side and as it turned he cut it across the chest before sinking his sword into its heart. He kicked the creature off of his sword and swung it around to strike the head off of another.

It seemed to take an eternity for Link to finally defeat the creatures' their bodies no longer feeling pain and their severed limbs still fighting. Link had found that if he attacked their hearts directly, it would kill them.

He wiped the blood off of his sword on one of the creature's clothes and sheathed it. "I have to get to the Water Temple…" He said to himself as he ran out of the village after making sure that the townspeople were alright.

* * *

"So, you were able to get a little message to your friend, that will be the last time," The creature said, it had grown in size and a few of its features had changed. Now it had sharp claws coming from its hands, a pair of dark horns protruding from its hair, and its boots were torn open, showing its clawed and scaled feet.

"That's what you think, I'm going to get my body back completely, even if you defeat me a hundred time, I'm not giving up," Cody said, his body even more battered then before.

"Oh, that's grand, you're going to defeat me, even though every time you fight, you lose?" the creature mocked.

"You'll see, not every fight is head on," Cody said, he turned and ran towards a series of doors that lined the room they were in. He opened one of the doors and ran into it. He slammed the door shut behind him and looked where he was; he was back at Lon Lon Ranch.

"Looks just like it doesn't it?" a voice said, making Cody whirl towards the stables. The creature stood there, his arms folded across his chest. "It seems that each of those doors leads to one of your memories, interesting…" he said, his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"Cody! Link! Time for dinner!" a voice called as Malon came out of the house. Now that he listened for it, he could hear Link's and his own voices as they sparred behind the house.

"Oh, she's a cute little number," The creature said as he slowly circled Malon, looking her up and down.

"Get away from her!" Cody said, running at the creature and slashing at the creature, or more, where he had just been. He had moved out of the way just before Cody could strike him, just as he had down many times before.

"Sorry I can't stay, but if you have memories of Link, then I can search your memories to find his weaknesses," the creature said, turning away as a door slowly seemed to materialize before him. He opened the door and disappeared, going who knows where inside of his mind.

"No! Get back here!" Cody said, running after him, running into the doorway.

* * *

Cody stood on the island above the water temple, "I am glad this child was a half zora," he said, or more, the creature said right before diving into the water. 'If I can get this dark figure to join me, or if I merely just absorb his dark essence, then my power will greatly increase,' the creature thought as it reached the door. He closed his eyes for a second as he searched Cody's mind. He opened his eyes a satisfied smile on his face. He used one of his dark tentacles like a hookshot to hit the mechanism to open the temple door. He swam inside and pulled himself out of the water, "As long as we don't run into the Water Sage, you don't have to worry about her getting hurt," Cody appeared to be saying to himself.

He continued into the temple until he was standing in the room Dark Link resided within, the mirror like water reflecting Cody's image along with the image of the creature walking in front of him. He stood under the tree, leaning against it and waited. Dark Link was leaning against the other side of the tree, "What do you want?" he said, noticing the stranger.

"I have an offer for you; you can take it or die."


	7. Chapter 7: Spark of Darkness

**My longest chapter ever! yay!!**

**This chapter is mainly to show how the darkness in Cody's heart was created and to explain why he is alone. I don't know if it's a good idea, but I don't like leaving really vague areas in my characters, sorry.

* * *

**

Chapter 7: Spark of Darkness

Link fell softly to the ground and immediately began running to the water, he was glad that Shiek had taught him all of the songs for the temples. He immediately dove into the lake, not bothering to put his Zora tunic on, and started swimming towards the gate. His lungs were burning by the time he reached the pool inside the temple. He pulled himself out of the water and stopped only for a second to catch his breath and draw his sword as a tektite started hopping towards him. He lunged from the platform and his sword ran right through the tektite like a hot knife through butter. He landed on the center platform, the water rippling form the tektite's body falling into it.

"It's good to have you back," Link said to the Master Sword.

He continued through the temple, having a faster time since Cody had left a path for him by killing all of the monsters he had encountered and leaving all of the doors unlocked. He hurried, hoping he wasn't too late to stop Dark Link and the Dark Triforce from allying themselves.

* * *

Cody stood in Hyrule Field; he was watching the scene from his childhood, he had been seven years old. His family was having a picnic, his twin brother, Nika, was playing with his little sister, Lena, and his mother. He was away from the picnic with his father, a Hylian knight, who was showing him how to wield his weapon of choice, his two daggers. His family had a picnic to get out of Zora's Domain once every year. Cody and Nika loved the outings because it gave them more room to run around and play in; Lena loved it because she got to see the flowers that didn't grow in or around the Domain.

This picnic wasn't to end like the rest, instead of everyone going home; Cody would be the only one left.

He watched his family all enjoying themselves, a small nostalgic smile on his face, as they went about playing, Nika, Lena, and he were playing a game of tag in the field and his mother and father were sitting on a large blanket they had laid out and watching their young children, not knowing that soon two of them would be gone.

* * *

Cody ran with his daggers tapping on his belt as he ran, Nika's sword tapped against his back as he ran, and Lena ran holding a small staff. Since they were young Cody and his siblings had been trained on how to use their weapons, Cody with the most experience, Nika second, Lena merely picking hers up and fighting off rats and carnivorous fish. Cody watched as he chased Nika and Lena to the top of a hill, he was it and was quickly catching up to Lena, she being the youngest and slowest.

Nika stopped at the top of the hill, a look of curiosity on his face, "Brother, come see this!" he called, looking down as Cody stuck his tongue out at Lena and pushed her shoulder, making her stumble and fall to the ground.

Cody ran off, unaware that he knocked over his sister, and stopped beside his twin brother, "What is it, Nika?" he asked, looking down the other side of the hill.

At the bottom were five men, their armor all shining in the sun light; making it hard for the brothers to look at them. They were five Hylians knights, having heard about the bounty out for Cody's father for going against the King's order to marry the princess, Zelda's mother, and running away to marry a Zora woman, Cody's mother. They rode on horseback, coming up the hill at a steady trot, knowing that they could easily outrun the knight, should he try to escape.

"Nika, we have to warn father!" Cody said, grabbing his brother's hand and running down the hill. They continued running until they got back to their picnic spot, stopping at the edge of the blanket, having to catch their breath before they could tell their father anything. But, before they could say anything, it was too late. The knights had seen the two boys at the top of the hill and had gotten their horses to a gallop in order to make sure their father didn't try to run away.

"You are under arrest by order of the king, you may come peacefully, or we may use force," One of the knights, Cody guessed was the leader from his appearance, his horse and armor seemed to be in better condition then the rest.

"Or, I won't come at all, I know if I go back I'll be executed."

"Then you leave us no choice, prepare for combat," The leader said, dismounting from his horse and drawing his sword.

Cody's mother gasped and got up, moving away from the knights. Cody and Nika stood a short distance behind the other knights as they dismounted and drew their weapons, trying to see what was going on to see if they could help their father. Their father drew his sword and stood in a defensive stance against the knights, his eyes focused on the leader.

Time seemed to stand still as the knights and Cody's father stood, waiting for the other to make their move. Cody was mesmerized by looking at the fierceness in his father's eyes, the spirit of a warrior coming from his father; hoping he could one day have that same look.

Eventually the silence was broken as what seemed to be a younger and less experienced knight charged at Cody's father, only to receive a blocked attack and a sword in the ribs. Cody watched as his father's sword swung clean of the knight's body, droplets of blood sent from the sword and onto the knights. The knight fell limp after the sword left his body, his lifeless eyes staring straight ahead, but not seeing anything, the glazed look of death already in his eyes. Cody stared in shock at the body for a few seconds before looking back up to see his father fighting off two more knights, the leader and what seemed to be his second-in-command. The other two had snuck around the battle and were standing behind Cody's mother. The two knights who were locked in combat with Cody's father had their swords pressed against his own, trying to bring him to his knees, but he rolled out of the way and lunged forward, his sword sinking into the heart of the second-in-command.

"I would suggest that you cease your fighting, unless you want this woman's blood to be spilled as well," The leader said from behind Cody's father, one of the other two knights holding their sword to her neck.

"Hey! Let me go!" Cody heard from beside him. He looked to see his brother, held in the air by his collar, in the grip of the other knight. Cody's father looked at his situation and made a quick analysis and chose the only option he had left.

He pulled his sword from the knight's heart and let him fall to the ground.

"How dare you do such a cowardly act, you call yourselves Knights?!" Cody's father spat at the ones holding his family.

"If you give yourself up, we shall allow them to live"

Cody's father looked at the three knights and dropped to his knees as he put his sword on the ground, his head dropping to look at the ground. He knew there was no escape this time, either he died or his family died, and he would rather avoid the latter.

The knight's leader walked around behind Cody's father and held his sword pointing down towards Cody's father's heart. He took a deep breathe and looked down at Cody's father.

"Kill them."

"Wha-," Cody's father was cut off as a sword was plunged into his back, coming out of his chest. He looked down at the plate for a second before his eyes glazed over and his body went limp. The knight holding Cody's mother quickly ran his sword over her throat, the blade biting through her flesh and leaving a deep gash, letting the blood flow freely from her neck. Cody turned just in time to see the sword go into his brother's back, still suspended in the air. His brother's blood fell onto his face, a look of shock and horror on both their faces, making them look as though they were a grim mirror of death.

The knights all released the bodies of his family and all turned towards him, starting to walk towards him with the blood still dripping from their swords. They all looked at him as though their mission was already accomplished, a boy being an easy enough quarry for them both.

Cody looked at the bodies of his family, the fear of death building up inside of him, but the main thing that was drilling its way into his heart was the anger, the pain of the sudden loss of his family, and the vengeful rage that was shown in his eyes at the knights.

Cody's vision went white as his memories slipped away, he didn't remember what had happened, but when he came to he was floating in Zora's river, a deep wound in his shoulder above his heart, and blood on his hands, not seeming to be his own. He would later find out that two of the knights had been slaughtered where his family had been, but one had gotten away.

* * *

"I wish that had never happened," Cody's older self said, looking down to see his younger self float down the river where he would eventually be rescued by an elderly old man who would change his life.

"Well, that was anti-climactic," A voice said from behind Cody.

The creature gave a quick laugh before looking back at Cody, a serious expression on its face.

"I want to see what happened to those other two knights, want me to show you?"


	8. Chapter 8: Forces of Darkness

Chapter 8: Forces of Darkness, a child's nightmare

Link burst into Dark Link's mirrored room to find him and Cody facing off against each other. He drew his sword, unsure of whether to join in the combat, or to face the weary victor. He chose the latter, knowing he could defeat Dark Link, and feeling he had a better chance at fighting Cody if he were weakened.

"You're making a big mistake if you decide not to join me," Cody said, twirling his daggers in his hands as Dark Link charged at him, sword raised.

Cody crossed his daggers above his head to keep Dark Link's sword from coming down and cleaving him in two.

"You think I would want to go back to being someone's minion, when I have finally regained my corporeal form and now have my freedom? You're dumber then you look," Dark Link retorted.

Cody kicked him in the stomach, knocking him backwards. He charged at Dark Link, a grin of satisfaction on his face. Dark Link put his sword up defensively, hoping to block Cody's attack. Instead of attacking head on, Cody jumped into the air and knocked Dark Link's blade down, and put his hand over Dark Link's face and let him collapse to the ground. A slight snicker escaped from Cody's mouth as he pushed his hand onto Dark Link's forehead. He closed his eyes and concentrated while Dark Link desperately tried to knock his hand away. He picked Dark Link's head up a little bit and slammed it into the ground, letting a charge of electric dark energy loose from his hand and into Dark Link's head. The energy overloaded Dark Link's senses, making his vision blur and his thoughts swim. He lost the ability to concentrate on Cody's face from under his hand and ironically darkness started to cloud his vision.

"I'm not going to kill you, I'm just not going to allow you to have a choice in joining me, now," Cody said, grabbing the front of Dark Link's tunic with his other hand and picking him up off the floor. Tentacles slithered out of Cody's tunic and ran up his arm, making their way towards Dark Link's nearly unconscious form.

"No! Stop, don't do it!" Link yelled, running towards the two of them from his safe watch at the door.

"Too late, Hero," Cody smirked, turning his gaze towards the Hero of Time. The tentacles found their way to Dark Link's face. He gave a slight shake of his head in defiance, but couldn't do anything else as the tentacles made their way into his ears. Dark energies started pulsing through them and directly into Dark Link's brain, rearranging his thoughts and memories. The darkness inside of Dark Link intensified and grew stronger, making Dark Link himself stronger, as his thoughts turned from his old servitude of Ganon to now believing he had started serving Cody for freeing him from Ganon's control.

"That should suffice," Cody said, letting Dark Link drop to the ground; surprisingly he was able to keep his feet, though unsteadily. His eyes immediately snapped open and surveyed his surroundings, seeming to be taking everything in for the first time.

"We have company," Cody said, motioning to Link. Link stood facing the two of them, having stopped once the tentacles had crawled onto Dark Link's face.

"I'll take care of him," Dark Link said, picking his sword up from the ground. Link drew the Master Sword and stood in a defensive stance, waiting for Dark Link's attack.

"No, we have to let him live for now, if we kill him the Triforce of Courage will be drawn to the Triforce of Darkness and with the help from that relic, the fool I have possessed might gain the power to overthrow me," Cody said, venom in his voice about how he might actually be overthrown by a mere child.

Dark Link huffed but slowly sheathed his own sword, his eyes locked on Link the whole time. "You might want to work on your timing a little more, Hero, or else the old man might not make it," Cody said as his and Dark Link's shadow came up and enveloped them and pulled them into the ground.

"Who did he mean by the old man?" Link asked himself as he turned and exited the room. A thought suddenly dawned on him and his eyes widened, "He doesn't mean…"

* * *

"Before I show you what happened, I found something in your memory that may shed new light upon your very existence," The creature said its expression suddenly serious. It turned around and put its hand out and turned it as though turning the knob of a door and pulled it back to show a doorway before them. It beckoned for Cody to go through the doorway. A strange sensation came over Cody as though he could trust the creature to not be locking him away in some dark recess of his mind, as though he already knew what the creature was going to show him. In some ways he did since it was one of his own memories.

Cody walked through the doorway, the creature following behind him, and stepped out onto one of the bases of the small waterfalls that surrounded the Chamber of the Sages. A group of people stood before him, all standing where his friends, the real sages, had when he had been sent to this chamber after Link vanquished Ganon. All appeared to have resembling figures to his friends, except they all seemed older, except for the kokiri sage, of course. The only one he recognized was Rauru, though he seemed years younger, some of his white hair still retained the color it once held.

* * *

"We can postpone this subject no longer," Rauru's deep rich voice echoed within the chamber, "We can longer hold the creature within the seal by ourselves, if we continue this it will be unleashed upon the world."

"But what can we do about it?" The sage of spirit, a female Gerudo that could have been Nabooru's mother, said, "If we keep holding it then we will be destroyed along with Hyrule."

"Yes, the creature will be unleashed either way, no matter what we do," A Zora, whom Cody suddenly recognized as Ruto's deceased mother, agreed with the Spirit Sage, "The only thing we can do is to find a way to seal it as soon as it is released."

* * *

"So, are these the sages from the past?" Cody asked the creature standing behind him.

The creature merely nodded in agreement. Cody found it strange that they were standing on this small platform, yet he felt no need to try to distance himself from the creature, or to even think of a defensive strategy, should it attack.

"They're talking about you, aren't they?" Cody asked. He received a signal to be quiet and to look at the sages.

Cody looked back to see they had missed a small part of the conversation.

* * *

"It seems all we can do is to try and seal the creature within something," Rauru said, "or someone."

"It could prove fatal to the one whom we seal the creature in, and if they survive their life will not be an easy one, it will be racked with the torment of people trying to kill them and being under siege from the creature's controlling power," The Shiekah Sage of Shadow said from underneath a constricting hood that also covered his mouth, only a small tuft of blonde hair and his red eyes shown from the opening in the front of the hood. Cody had a strange feeling he had seen him somewhere before but a name eluded him.

"The child will have to be a strong one, one who is destined to deal with the forces of darkness one day," The sage of fire inquired.

"Could it be the young boy, the one of Courage?"

"Or, perhaps, the girl of wisdom?"

"No, it may not be either of the two, and the one of power will already have enough darkness in him," Rauru said to calm the sages, "We must take our chances with the child destined to walk in darkness with the power to undo the light."

* * *

"They mean you."

"I guessed that much."

"Do you want to know why they werere talking about me earlier?" The creature said, "Turn around."

Cody turned around to face a gigantic, well, face. It pressed against the dark blue glass, trying to find a crack or a way to free itself, but finding none, the waves of darkness housed within it roiled and churned like the waves of the sea during a storm.

"That's you?"

"Yes, before I gained some of my civility," the creature said, sounding almost like it was remembering a bad memory, "There was no reason to my purpose then, it was a sad existence I lived. But enough of that. We must listen again to the sages; I've skipped to a different memory while you were looking away to show where you come into play."

* * *

The scene had indeed changed, though the sages stood where they had before they all looked exhausted, a few were about to collapse from the exhaustion. But there was a boy, appearing to be around the age of one to two years, standing on the central platform where Link had stood when he had awoken from his seven year slumber. Cody already knew who the child was. It didn't take a genius to see that the boy was Cody himself.

"Well, if this doesn't work, it's been nice knowing all of you," The sage of Spirit remarked.

"Don't talk like that," The kokiri sage said; a look of strained hope in her eyes.

The Sages all turned, the creature moved behind its seal, jumping from one side of the room to the other to look at all of the sages.

* * *

"This is embarrassing…"

* * *

The sages raised their arms towards the creature, multi-colored lights that signified what they were the sage of appearing in their hands. The lights rose into the air, twirling and dancing around eachother, looking like fairies at a celebration. They met above the platform the boy was standing on, "Now, child of darkness, prepare yourself, the fate of Hyrule rests in your strength!" Rauru called out right before the light shot into the boy's chest. The walls of the chamber shattered, revealing the absolute darkness that surrounded it, an insane cackle of freedom ringing throughout the chamber.

A large cloud of darkness swept across the room, moving onto the platform the boy was standing on, reaching up towards him to swallow him whole. The boy appeared to be standing in a trance, his eyes half closed as though his thoughts were no longer within him. The cloud crawled up his body, moving towards the light glowing from where the sage's power had gone into his chest. It reached towards it as though inspecting it, but it started moving into it, covering the boy's entire body except for his eyes. He stared with his calm, emotionless eyes that seemed to see nothing of the darkness that was infecting him, corrupting his heart with darkness.

* * *

"No! This isn't true! This isn't happening! Stop it now!" Cody shouted, reaching for the boy, but knowing that he couldn't do anything. It was only a memory after all. "This can't be true, no, it can't be. You weren't inside of me until I got the Triforce of Darkness."

"No, The Triforce of Darkness just gave me a point in which to be released, the sages believed that the Triforce of Darkness could act as a seal in order to hold me in, but they were wrong," The creature said as though he were discussing the weather. His calmness over the subject made an anger which Cody had never felt before begin to boil inside of his heart.

"How could they do that to me? How could they put that darkness inside of me, knowing that it couldn't be sealed in a child?" He asked, looking towards the sages as they slipped away into darkness, the memories changing. His eyes welled up with tears, the pain of his situation, now knowing why the Zoras had been the only race to help him when his family was killed. They did not practice the teachings of the Temple of Time as strongly as the Hylians, so they did not know of the darkness that had been put inside of him.

"Now, for the part that I wanted to show you, I want you to see what happened during the only other time I was able to 'help' you with those knights."


End file.
